A narcotics detective, who asked not to be identified for fear of blowing his cover, said the house in the 17800 block of Baintree Avenue was “just a stone’s throw away from” a similar grow home in the 17800 block of Nearbank Drive.

Detectives served a search warrant at that home in April.

“They were starting to set this thing up,” the undercover detective said. “It was only running for a couple of months, but their plan was converting the whole house.”

Detectives learned of the possible operation from an informant, Butao said.

“This informant basically said that the location is a marijuana cultivation site,” Butao said.

The undercover detective said that deputies from the narcotics bureau were conducting surveillance of the home in anticipation of getting a search warrant.

“The two suspects were there when we arrived so we decided to go ahead and get a judge to sign the search warrant immediately,” the detective said.

The warrant was served at 6p.m., Butao said.

The house was set up like other similar operations. Several sophisticated growing procedures had been implemented. The farm used hydroponic watering system and artificial lighting to stimulate plant growth, authorities said

The plants seized were in various stages of growth from tiny clones to several plants over 6 feet tall, the detective said.

The home was sold in March for $636,006, according to the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office. It is described as having four bedrooms, two baths and encompassing about 2100 square feet. The home was built in 1968.

The amount seized in the bust was significantly less than was taken in a Nearbank Drive raid on April 11. In that raid, detectives seized plants with a street value of $9.6 million, authorities said. The Nearbank Drive home was ultimately linked to a home and pot seizure in Rosemead, they said.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.